The Sixth City
by authorstage
Summary: Tris and Tobias and the gang might have saved Chicago but the government didn't give up all their experiments. Araya is supposed to be a quiet, mild-mannered girl from Amity. But she's not. Luka is a Dauntless who's never been unsure of who is. Add in a little power hungry Erudite and Dauntless prejudice and you'll never guess what happens next...


The bell rings just as I slide through the door. My chest is heaving from running. Mrs. Rainier gives me one of her signature death stares- the woman could melt ice.

"Care to enlighten us, Miss Gregory, why you are late to class?" She says loudly. The entire class has their eyes trained on me. My cheeks turn a deep crimson color from both anger and embarrassment. I hate Mrs. Rainier. She's an Erudite, know-it-all who thinks if you aren't achieving perfection in school that you'll never amount to anything. Which is only true if I join Erudite. That's funny. I would never, _ever_ join Erudite.

For one, I'm just not that smart. It's not like I have anything against knowledge and I don't have anything against technology or stuff like that. I'm reasonable. It helps us survive and improves our lives. I just hate the kind of people _in_ Erudite. They're snobby and obnoxious and obsessive and disloyal and most of them would do anything to get to the top and most of those people would have no problem in admitting it.

I want to tell that old lady whose nose is peering down at me more than her eyes that she can shove it but I won't. I cannot do that. I am Amity and I must be kind.

"I just lost track of time. I apologize." I tell her, focusing on keeping the naturally hard tone out of my voice.

"It's that kind of lack of focus that gets you into trouble in this class. Now sit down." A few of the Erudite burst out laughing. My fingers start to shake and I sit down as I am told and sit on my hands so no one notices my arms trembling with anger.

Twenty minutes later, I've calmed down and I'm hearing bits and pieces of Mrs. Rainier's lecture. The door flips open loudly. I turn around out of instinct, along with the rest of the class.

It's Luka.

Luka is a boy in Dauntless. He is impeccably good looking and strong. I avert my eyes because there's something about him that makes me feel _odd._ I am not intimidated simply because he is Dauntless. The Dauntless don't scare me. My mother and I used to go out to the patrol guards and give them hot tea in the winter and lemonade in the summer. His good looks aren't the source of my discomfort. Trust me. My boyfriend is one of those boys who all the girls look at- even the Dauntless girls. But I think it's how he walks or how he talks or how he looks at me. It irritates me. I don't know why. But it also terrifies me. Most girls drool over him. They say that he would make them feel safe or something because he's so strong. I once heard Melanie squeal, "And those eyes! God, they're like an ocean. I could just drown." But his blue eyes seem cold to me. I feel like he can see through me. Which he probably does. He wouldn't bother to see the girl from Amity who is uncomfortable in her own skin.

But what infuriates me the most is that grin. The one he has on now as Mrs. Rainier says nothing to him, doesn't give him a look of scolding. He just plops himself in the empty desk next to me.

"You may continue." He jokes with Mrs. Rainier who had frozen.

A lot of people are afraid of the Dauntless these days. My mother tells me it's prejudice. My father says it's because they're crazy. I don't know what to think.

Mrs. Rainier recovers and Luka and a few of his Dauntless friends laugh.

"Lookin' at something, princess of peace?" He asks me. Too quiet for Mrs. Rainier to hear but the kids around us do. I realize then that I had been staring at him, thinking about slapping that damn cocky grin off of his face.

As a member of Amity, I should not say the comeback that rises out of me. He's expecting me to say, 'sorry, I just zoned out' or something that would change the situation. In somewhere other than Amity perhaps a quick wit might be a good thing. But I know one way to get that smirk off his face; a quiet Amity girl with a comeback instead of a blush and averting the situation. I can't resist.

"I was wondering how to get that ugly smirk off of your pretty little face." I tell him. He looks surprised and I feel triumphant. But he recovers quickly.

"So you think I'm pretty?" He winks at me, his smirk growing by the nanosecond.

"I think you missed the part where I called you ugly." I say, laughing. As if his piercing stare doesn't bother me at all. It's a good thing Amity has taught me how to lie effectively.

"I don't think your boyfriend would be too happy about your confession that you're insanely attracted to me. But don't worry. I won't tell him." He smiles broadly. His friend, Darian, is shaking with laughter.

What I hate most is when someone tells me how I'm feeling or tells me what to do. His comment stirs something in me.

"You're delusional. And I wouldn't care what you told my boyfriend. Others don't tell me what to say or think." I tell him. I hadn't noticed the whole class had gone silent and now Mrs. Rainier was staring me down.

"Contrary Miss Gregory. You're in my classroom and not only will I tell what to say, I decide when you say it. You were late and now you're speaking out. You're dismissed."

This has got to be a joke. I can't move because I am so angry.

"You. Are. Dismissed. Leave. Now." She speaks to me as if I am incompetent and my anger bursts.

"Are you joking!?" I yell, springing out of my desk. Mrs. Rainier tries to say something but I cut her off. She looks furious. "What about him?" I ask, gesturing to Luka. "He came in like a half hour after I did. From you? Not even a word. He was talking too. And don't say that because you didn't hear him means it wasn't happening. I was sure as hell not talking to myself." I huff.

The Amity look down, ashamed. Candor has small smiles on their faces, as if I belong to them, as if they think I'm going to choose them tomorrow. The Erudite look furious that I just yelled at their master, Mrs. Rainier. The Dauntless... Some look surprised and confused. Even a few look impressed. A few are laughing. One is amused. And cocky.

"Leave." Mrs. Rainier stares me down but I stare back. "I will be calling your step-father about this." I purse my lips. That won't be fun tonight. I am too mad to even think that far ahead though.

"Listen, if you want me to leave, Mrs. Rainier, it's no problem. Seriously." He laughs, as if he doesn't have a care in this world.

"Just- just take her with you." Mrs. Rainier says, her voice shaking.

Luka tries to put hand on my arm but I fling it back and grab my bag off the floor and walk quickly out the door.

"Hey princess, you should probably breathe." He tells me. I stop in surprise. I had been walking fast. I didn't think he would have been keeping up with me. Then I realize that I _had_ forgotten to breathe. I exhale. He laughs at me.

"What do you want?" I snap at him.

"Not sure. I think I just like annoying you."

"Mission accomplished. Bye." I say but he just laughs a little more. I keep walking. He stays just a step behind me. I step through the school doors and I feel like I can breathe, even if it is just for a minute or so because there he is. Persistent little Dauntless.

"So I take it you aren't choosing Amity?" He says, looking amused again.

"I'm nice to the people that deserve it." I snap at him again.

"That's not what I asked."

"That's not any of your business."

"You're staying." He says, sounding genuinely surprised but it isn't a question.

"You're ridiculous." I tell him but I lift my eyes to his at the wrong moment and my lip quivers.

"Why would you stay? You know damn well you're not nice." He says, still amused but _curious_.

"I think you need to leave." I tell him curtly. I glare at him until he starts to back away and then I watch the doors swing open and he goes back to where ever he wants. Because he gets what he wants. Because he is Dauntless and people are afraid of him.

I feel like I'm going to collapse. I need out. But there really isn't any way.


End file.
